PMD: The Stasis Prophecy
by TheAuraWolf
Summary: Twelve gemstones to rule the world, twelve gemstones to unite them: that was Arceus's plan from the beginning. But when the gemstones are whisked away, one by one, the fate of the world rests with a group of unsuspecting nobodies. With a race against the clock, who will crack under the pressure? (Special thanks to Rockium.)
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

**xxxxxxxx**

Welcome to the world of civilized Pokémon. That's right, it's a world where Pokémon actually act like humans! They have jobs, they go to school, they cook, they do laundry, and the list goes on. No humans exist in this world, only Pokémon.

This world is kept in balance thanks to the gemstones made by Arceus. These twelve gemstones keep life going, with the Grass gemstone creating all vegetation, the Water gemstone controlling the flow of rivers and oceans, the Fire gemstone creating the flames that light up candles and volcanoes, the Light gemstone creating the warm daytime, the Dark gemstone controlling the blackness of night, the Air gemstone creating the skies and the clouds, so on and so forth.

But should the gemstones ever be stolen, the world would be knocked off balance. If the Grass gemstone was taken, all plant life would disappear. If the Water gemstone went missing, you'd have no rivers, seas, lakes, not even rain. You get the drill.

That is why the twelve gemstones are hidden, far away from prying eyes. Some think they're in a forest, some in a mountain, some say they're in an ocean, others in a burning volcano. No one knows where they are, and no one knows whether they even exist at all.

Legends say that there are Pokémon that protect the twelve gemstones. Some say that they protect the world, others say that they only protect the gemstones. Some even say that it's a legendary Pokémon that protects the gemstones from possible intruders, but that fact remains unknown.

For now, though, all is calm in this world. Pokémon just went about their daily lives, working at their jobs, spending time with their families, leading ordinary lives in their small, cozy towns and cities. However, all that is soon going to change…

**xxxxxxxx**

In the darkness of the night, all was still, save for the slight rustle of leaves in the wind. Then, the crunch of footsteps on grass resounded as a figure, black as the night itself, jumped out of the forest, panting as it looked back the way it came.

"Hey! Stop right there!"

"Get back here!"

"Don't bother running, we'll catch you anyway!"

"It went this way!"

Once they heard those shouts coming from the undergrowth, the Pokémon started running, fleeing up the hill beyond the forest, carrying a small, round object with them.

At the top of the hill, the black figure stopped, glancing around wildly for the nearest place to run, until they spotted a light, albeit a faint one, from a nearby town. With the voices from before growing louder, the figure knew they had no time to waste, and darted towards the town, clutching the round object in their paws like their life depended on it.

Illuminated by dim streetlights and the faint glow from nearby houses, one could make out the canid figure of the black Pokémon, with their voluminous crimson mane and long claws glinting somewhat under the glow of the lights, and the bright blue eyes that darted frantically about, looking for something. In their claws was a small egg, black and tipped with bloody red. The Zoroark made a beeline for the nearest house, hoping beyond hope that its occupants could keep the egg - her child - safe. In the distance, the voices grew louder. She had to do this fast.

Placing the black egg as gently as she could on the doorsteps of the small house, the Zoroark felt the warm tears forming in her eyes, threatening to spill out. Though it pained her to say goodbye to her only child, she knew what would happen should her pursuers find the egg. Even she didn't want to think about it.

"Please...be safe." With that, the Zoroark stepped back to look at her egg once more, then rang the doorbell and took off into the surrounding bushes. When the door opened, the only evidence of anyone ever ringing the doorbell was the egg.

The Lucario couple who answered the doorbell were rather confused. ''An egg?'' The shorter of the two asked, her feminine voice soft and kind.

''What would an egg be doing here?'' The taller Lucario said, voice low and gruff.

''I don't know, but we can't just leave it out here, Jake."

''Alright, Lenda. Let's take it inside.'' The taller Lucario, apparently named Jake, picked up the black egg and carried it into the house, all the while unaware of the Zoroark that was watching the entire scene from the bushes. The Illusion Pokémon breathed a sigh of relief, and took one last glance at the house.

''I hope you live a good life, my little angel...'' With salty tears finally streaming down her face, the Zoroark disappeared into the forest, the only traces of her being a short trail of tear drops soaked into the ground.

**xxxxxxxx**

''How could an egg wind up outside our house?'' Jake asked, inspecting the black-and-crimson egg while Lenda washed the dishes.

''I don't know, Jake. Maybe someone left it there?'' Lenda suggested.

''That...is a possibility. But who in Wisp Town would leave an egg outside our house, of all places?''

''Like I said, I don't know,'' Lenda said, putting the plate away. The blue jackal wiped her paws before sitting down on the sofa, next to Jake.

''Well, we cou-'' The egg started to shake in Jake's paws.''What the?!'' Both Lucario stared in shock at the egg shaking before a crack appeared on its shell. ''I-it's gonna hatch!'' The egg began to shine brighter, with the Lucario couple quickly covering their eyes as light engulfed the room.

In a flash, the light faded away. As both Lucario opened their eyes and looked down to see what had hatched, they were given the shock of a lifetime.

With the Pokémon's black fur and red accents, it could only be a Zorua. The Zorua's eyes opened as it curiously took in its surroundings, and looked up, staring at the Lucario couple. It let out a happy yip as it wagged its tail happily, oblivious to the shock on its 'parents' faces.

''A...Zorua...?''Jake stuttered out.

''Yip!'' The black illusion fox barked.

''Aw! It likes you!'' Lenda squealed in delight as Jake stared at her, his jaw touching the floor.

''Lenda! you don't know what this means?!''

''What do you mean?'' Lenda asked, confused by the sudden outburst.

''A Zorua is born bad!'' Jake said.

''So?''

''What do you mean 'so'? This Zorua might bring a bad omen!''

''We can make this Zorua good,'' Lenda said simply, her husband staring at her as if she was a madwoman.

''You are not suggesting that we keep this Zorua?!''

''We are doing exactly that,'' Lenda replied calmly.

''Lenda! You can't just ta-''

''Jake! He doesn't have a family! We can't just give him up for adoption! You said a Zorua is born bad, so what do you think will happen to him?!'' Lenda shouted, her normally soft tone laced with anger. ''He's gonna be treated badly! And you want to subject him to that kind of life?!''

''But it's...oh geez, fine.'' Jake gave in after receiving a sharp glare from his wife, letting her take the baby Zorua from his paws.

''He's gonna make a fine brother to Barke,'' Lenda cooed. Jake could only frown in response, and approached her.

''So, what are you gonna name the fox?'' Lenda gave her husband another sharp glare, somewhat unhappy that Jake just referred to their adopted son as a wild Pokémon, causing him to sheepishly grin as sweat rolled down his face. However, the Zorua let out a happy yip. Both Lucario then stared at the black fox, mildly confused.

''Whatever I said, it li-''

''It's a boy, Jake.''

''Okay, he liked it.'' Jake retorted.

''So Fox, huh?'' The Zorua yipped in approval at his new name, bringing a smile to Lenda's face.

''Fox...His name is Fox McClaws.''

* * *

_**A/N:I would like to thank Rockium for the help with this chapter. This story was bugging me for a while, so I decided to write it out, and post the story. I don't own Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Chunsoft those.**_


	2. Chapter I

**Chapter I**

**xxxxxxx**

Sixteen years passed. Fox grew up happily with his stepbrother Barke and the new addition to their family not long after the Zorua's arrival, his stepsister Luna. All three Pokémon went to school, met new friends, tasted the joys and low points of life, and when the time came, evolved and began the next phase in their lives. Barke graduated, left the nest and became a police officer in his sleepy little hometown, while Luna and Fox continued studying in Wisp Academy, the only education hub in town.

And then a new dawn broke, with golden streaks of sunlight piercing through the darkness of night, painting color onto a world which had previously been shrouded in shades of black. As the sun rose over Wisp Town, casting its light over buildings and rousing some of the townspeople to wakefulness, golden sunlight shone into the McClaws household near the edges of the town, illuminating the dark interior of the cozy room and the occupant that snoozed on within: a Zoroark, Fox, sound asleep in bed even as the sun shone through his window and reflected off his dark fur.

He didn't sleep for much longer, however; a loud bang on the door jolted the illusion fox awake. ''Waaagh!'' Comically, Fox leapt up from the covers, hit his head on the low ceiling, and came crashing unceremoniously down onto the floor with an equally loud "thud". He scratched his aching head in an attempt to reorient himself, hoping that he hadn't developed a large bruise the size of a Sitrus berry after inadvertently yeeting himself off the bed (he did find a bump on his head, but it was small and would probably shrink after a few minutes).

''Big brother!'' Luna shouted, her hurried tone penetrating the Zoroark's temporary daze as he turned to face his sister, about to question why she almost knocked the door off its hinges before he noticed that the Lucario was already dressed in her school uniform. _But the alarm hasn't rung yet..._

''Luna...why are you wearing your uniform?'' Fox mumbled, still somewhat groggy even after his abrupt awakening.

''Big brother! We have to go to school early to get our schedule! Remember?'' The Lucario said, prompting the Zoroark to think for a little bit before the realization hit him. "Oh." Immediately he checked his alarm clock, hoping that he didn't have to suffer the ill fortune of waking up late on the first day of high school. Luckily for him, it was only half past five in the morning; he still had an hour or so to get ready before setting out.

''Sorry, forgot that we have to be in school by 7:30...why don't you get breakfast ready in the meantime? I'll be downstairs in a few minutes,'' Fox suggested.

''Right then! What do you want to eat big brother?'' Luna asked.

''Why don't you make your special sandwich?''

''Okay, coming right up!'' The teenage Lucario dashed out of the bedroom, accidentally slamming the door shut in the face of an amused Fox, oblivious to the fresh bump on his forehead (_He's gotten worse anyway,_ she thought).

Even after fourteen years living with her, Fox thought his sister's antics would never get old (even when said antics indirectly led to a bruised forehead every now and then).

''You can be scary with your energy and temper combined sometimes, you know that?'' Fox remarked, before checking the time again and wasting no time rushing into his personal bathroom and performing his daily routine: taking a quick shower, brushing his teeth and drying his fur ("Just wring most of the water out with a towel and let the hairdryer do the rest," Barke would say) before heading on over to his closet and choosing his daily wear: a navy blue collared T-shirt with long white sleeves, a pair of black trousers and a black belt, mainly used to hold his pants up. He then looked at himself in the mirror, unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt for "fashion purposes", and glanced at the clock again.

It was nearly ten minutes to seven o'clock. Fox grabbed his bag, ran out of his bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen, watching Luna neatly place one of her self-made sandwiches onto his plate as he rushed down.

''Breakfast is ready, big brother,'' Luna called out, prompting a nod from Fox as he took his seat at the dining table.

''Let's finish breakfast quickly, we really have to go soon.'' Fox took a bite of his sandwich, relishing the decadent, tender slices of Magost berry blending with the tangy, mildly spicy Pinap jam, while Luna nodded and ate her sandwich as well.

After finishing breakfast not long later, Fox grabbed a notepad and a pen from his school bag, scrawled "Leaving early today, will come back at the usual time" in his best handwriting, then packed the two items back into his bag after he stuck the note on the table, and turned towards his sister.

''We'd probably better get going now, or else we'll be late,'' Fox said, briefly glancing at his watch before unlocking the front door, gesturing to Luna to leave. "Yeah, let's go then!" The two exited the small house, Fox locking the door behind them, and they set off on the long, winding road to school.

**xxxxxxxx**

By the time Fox and Luna reached the school gates, it was 7:19: around eleven minutes before school started. Even from the gates, they could see the many, many students packed inside, several different species of Pokémon all attending the same school.

''Luna, you know where to get your schedule, right?'' Fox asked, upon entering the giant school compound.

''I know, big brother. I'm supposed to go to 8-2 and isn't your old class at 10-2?'' Luna replied, receiving a nod from her brother as the two walked up the stairs to the second floor.

''Yeah, let's get our schedules, class starts at 8:15. I'll see you when classes end, alright?''

''Okay then! Bye, big brother!'' Fox waved goodbye to his sister as she left the stairway, leaving him to continue on to the third floor. After a short walk up the stairs and down the hallway, the Zoroark reached a door labeled with the letters "10-2" and stopped, opening the door to enter his old classroom. And then to immediately stumble backwards when a small yellow mouse bolted at him, nearly tackling Fox to the ground with a hug.

"Woah! Ray?!" Fox gasped in surprise and delight at the small yet incredibly strong Pikachu, whose white-and-blue uniform was somewhat crumpled by the strength of his hug. "Long time no see, Fox!" Ray beamed, his brown eyes lighting up like stars in the night sky as he hopped from his current position in Fox's arms to the Zoroark's shoulder, his fiddler cap balancing precariously on his head.

When Fox looked around the old classroom, a wave of nostalgia hit him; the simple and almost-barren room, save for the twenty-two chairs and tables for each student, had been the venue for some of the most hilarious and…well, _interesting_ events in Fox's school life. Examples included that one time a Meowstic levitated practically everything in the room and the rest of the students decided to parkour on the flying objects, only for the things to come crashing down a few minutes later, resulting in no less than three cases of sprained ankles and broken bones and Henry receiving a two-hour detention, and the infamous "Haunted Pop Quiz" incident, mainly involving one terrified Chemistry teacher, one scare-happy Gengar and a whole class of amused students, to say the least. However, unlike the Meowstic, Mandy didn't receive a detention sentence for her "crimes".

The Zoroark took his seat at a table somewhat further away from the front and near the windows, slumping his bag on one of the table legs as Ray leaped off his shoulder and made his way to his own seat, around two spaces in front of Fox. Then, to his left, Fox heard a familiar voice. "Hey Fox, how was your vacation?" Turning to face the source, he found a Charizard in the seat next to him, the glint in his eyes and the extra _spark_ in his tail flame the same as ever.

"Oh hey, Dracon. It was good, what about yours?" Fox asked, noticing the subtle frown on his friend's face. "Dad was teaching me the way of Mega Evolution the whole holiday. You can imagine how painful that is…" "Wait. _Mega Evolution?_" Seeing the confused look on Fox's face, Dracon took a deep breath. "Mega Evolution is an ability that certain Pokémon can get, it basically increases your endurance and speed, it also changes your form and most importantly, it strengthens your attacks. Oh yeah, I need to show you something." The Charizard revealed a thick, black bangle on his wrist, with a large orange marble embedded in the center, glowing faintly like an ember in a campfire. "Also, Mega Evolution is powered by this stone."

"Hey, since when did you wear jewelry?" Fox asked, curious about the strange accessory. He would've ended up pondering the logistics of such a small rock being the catalyst for such a powerful transformation, if Dracon didn't interrupt his train of thought with his reply. "It's not jewelry - this thing's a Mega Stone. This gives me the power for Mega Evolution, but to activate it I need an activation ring. Dad didn't give me one yet since I haven't fully mastered Mega Evolution…"

"This is all very confusing…" Fox admitted, and Dracon let out a sigh as he nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it." A second later, the two noticed the Typhlosion at the front of the class, wearing black, round spectacles and a jolly smile on his face as he walked in. "Good morning, class!"

Every student in the room instantly stopped their chattering and stood up from their seats, greeting the Typhlosion with a loud chorus of "Good morning, Mr. Burns!".

"You all may take your seats," the teacher said, and waited for the screeching of chairs against the floor to die down before he trotted over to his desk and pulled out a stack of cards from the drawer. "As advisor of this class, it is my duty to hand out your schedules for Grade Eleven. In case you don't remember, you will be sorted into your new classes based on your new schedules and your grades for the past year. Now, when I call your name, please step forward to receive your schedule." The bespectacled Typhlosion sat down on his own chair and pulled the first card out of the stack. "Abel!" He called out, and an Absol promptly rose from his seat and made his way to the teacher's desk. "Grade 11-3. Please work on your grades for this year," Mr. Burns advised, before pulling out another card and calling out the next student's name.

Fox and Dracon spent a good few minutes waiting and talking while Mr. Burns called up each student one by one, until the Typhlosion called Dracon to his table. "Good luck." "Thanks," the Charizard replied as he walked over to the teacher's table, small beads of sweat forming on his neck. To his surprise, Mr. Burns had a warm smile on his face as he passed the card to him. "Grade 11-1. You did splendidly this year, I wish you the best of luck for the next." At that, Dracon breathed a sigh of relief as he thanked the Typhlosion, and returned to his table with a spring in his steps.

After a few more rounds of name-calling and reactions (Ellie nearly fainted on the spot, while Fynn grinned as a Grovyle reluctantly handed him ten bucks), Fox finally heard his name being called by Mr. Burns. With a short exchange of well-wishes between him, Dracon and Ray, Fox got up from his seat and approached the Typhlosion, letting a nervous sigh escape his body as he did so. The look on his teacher's face did nothing to calm his nerves. "Grade 11-2. You did rather well, but I know you can do better," Mr. Burns said, passing the Zoroark his schedule. After a short reply of "thank you", Fox quickly returned to his seat, and started reading the schedule printed out for him on the card.

''Sadly, we won't be classmates this year.'' Dracon quietly remarked, watching his friend hastily attempt to memorize his entire timetable.

''Yeah...what's your first class?''

''Battling. How about you?''

''Oh. Math...'' Fox said dejectedly, as Dracon smirked and patted his back.

''_Good_ luck.''

''_Thanks_ for your hospitality,'' the Zoroark sarcastically replied back.

''Ray!'' Fox and Dracon watched as the Pikachu walked to the teacher's desk. ''Grade 11-1. Excellent work, you did well this year.'' Ray took the schedule, a grin forming on his face, and returned to his seat.

Dracon flashed another smirk at Fox. ''Looks like me and Ray are classmates this year, too!'' Fox glared at the Charizard, and proceeded to argue with him about the unfairness of the situation while the remaining students received their own schedules.

After a few minutes, Mr. Burns stood up from his seat, the stack of cards cleared from his desk. ''Now, you've all received your schedules. I've said this last time and I will say this again, thank you all for giving me the best year in this academy. Though I won't be teaching you English anymore, I'll still be in this academy. If you ever need advice just come and tell me, I'll always be free to talk. Now, c'mon everyone! One last time!''

Everyone stood up and bowed. ''Goodbye, and thank you, Mr. Burns!'' The Typhlosion smiled as he nodded, and bowed back.

''Off you go, then! You might be late for your first class.'' The scraping of chairs against the floor resounded as students grabbed their bags and left the old classroom, all waving goodbye to their homeroom teacher as they did so.

''We aren't classmates for this year, Fox. Hope you do well without us,'' Ray teased as the trio exited the classroom, with the Zoroark responding with an annoyed grimace.

''_Thanks_ for the help guys...'' Fox replied sarcastically, prompting a chuckle from the other two Pokémon. ''Well, see you at lunchtime!'' Ray climbed onto Dracon's shoulder and left with him, leaving Fox to walk to his class alone. He couldn't help but grin at their antics as he too walked to his new class, trailing behind his two friends.

Upon entering class 11-2, which was sandwiched in between classes 11-1 and 11-3, the grin on Fox's face quickly curved downwards into a frown. While he could recognize every student in the classroom from prior, brief experiences, no one stood out to him as a friend. With an exasperated sigh the Zoroark chose a random seat near the back of the class, and glanced at his watch. The time was 8:17: he knew that lessons would start soon enough.

As he started wondering about who would be his new adviser, a Scyther entered the room, with the no-nonsense look in his eyes and his menacing arm-blades being enough to intimidate any chattering students into silence. And then he turned to the class and began to speak, his voice surprisingly soft yet firm. "Good morning, class. I am Mr. Blade, your adviser for this year. I will be teaching advanced battle technique. If you take out your schedule, you will see that my class starts eighth period every day. Your first subject is Math, so Mr. Wes should be coming soon. Goodbye, class."

''Goodbye and thank you, Mr. Blade.'' The Scyther nodded and left the classroom, leaving as quickly as he came. After a few minutes, a Floatzel entered the classroom, introduced himself, and proceeded to start lessons.

**xxxxxxxx**

Nothing much happened throughout the whole school day. Teachers came in, introduced themselves, discussed their expectations for the school year, showed the class some photos of their daily lives and left shortly afterwards. Lunchtime came and went, and the cycle of teachers entering and leaving continued on until the last period for the day. Like the other teachers, Mr. Blade used his time to explain his expectations, give an overview of his syllabus and break the ice a little bit, while Fox and the rest of the class waited for the school day to just _end._ The students didn't even have their textbooks to entertain them somewhat and prevent them from _dying of boredom,_ since they would only receive said books the next day.

You could imagine their relief when the bell finally rang.

"Alright, regular class begins tomorrow," Mr. Blade announced as he got up from his seat. "You're all dismissed. Thank you, class."

''Goodbye and thank you, Mr. Blade!'' The class wasted no time in responding before even more chairs were pushed along the ground, the terrible screeching only drowned out by the louder stampede of students rushing out of the classroom, tasting sweet freedom. Fox grabbed his courier bag and ran out with the rest of class 11-2, immediately making a beeline to the stairway.

''Fox!'' The Zoroark halted his movement as he turned to face Dracon, panting and a few meters behind him. "Yeah, what's up?" Fox replied, approaching his friend. "I got you something. Sorry for the late birthday present, I had to undergo Mega Evolution training while you had your seventeenth birthday, but here you go…" From his bag, the Charizard gingerly pulled out a navy blue box, tied together with dark blue ribbon. "Happy belated birthday, Fox."

Fox couldn't help but smile as he accepted the gift and put it in his bag for safe keeping. "Really, you didn't need to give me anything…"

"I know, but I wanted to compensate for missing your birthday…"

"Thanks, Dracon. Wanna leave together?" Fox asked.

"Sure, but I'm afraid I'll have to part ways with you at the gates...I have to train with Dad after school." With that, the two friends climbed down the stairs and walked to the school gates, chatting about school and who-knows-what teens talk about, and waved goodbye as Dracon left the school while Fox waited outside the exit for his sister.

''Big brother!'' Luna shouted as she exited the gate, prompting Fox wave and approach her. "Luna! How was class?"

"It's okay...my class is 9-1! How about you, big brother?"

"11-2. Hey, you wanna go to the beach for old times sake?" The Lucario pondered a bit before she answered back. "But isn't mom gonna be mad?"

"She won't scold us if we're only a few minutes late," Fox reassured, and the two set off to the beach.

**xxxxxxxx**

Compared to the half-hour-long jaunt home, the walk to the beach was way shorter. Within five minutes Fox could already see the ocean shimmering under the afternoon sun and the powdery white dust that littered the pathway, and it only took the two Pokémon no time at all to begin spotting the candy-colored parasols and benches strewn across the sand. Fox felt his sleeve being tugged and turned to face his sister, who seemed to be in urgent need of something, given her expression and that one of her paws clutched her abdomen. "What is it, Luna?"

"I-I need to use a bathroom…" The Lucario replied, a blush forming on her cheeks. Fox looked around, spotting a burger shack not too far away. "There's that restaurant over there-" -he pointed in the general direction of the shack with a finger digit- "-where you can probably use the bathroom." Luna nodded and sprinted towards the burger shack, while Fox hurried after her, panting heavily once he reached the restaurant.

"You...huff...can go on your own...right?" Fox asked, caught off guard by Luna's unexpected break for the bathroom. "Don't worry, big brother. I'm not a baby." Fox let out a chuckle.

"I'll be waiting for you outside, okay?" With that, Luna showed him a thumbs up and dashed through the glass doors of the burger shack, leaving Fox to himself.

From the grassy, sandy hill he was on, Fox could see the beach in its entirety, from the tiny child-made sand hills to the ocean that stretched beyond the horizon, glittering with a million trillion shiny scales, scattered on every surface of the water as the afternoon sun shone down on everything. The Zoroark took that moment to remember all the fun times in his childhood; building sandcastles with Barke, making a giant sand hill in an attempt to reach space, having splash fights with Luna...how quickly time flies, he thought. Those moments were now few and far between, especially with school to complicate matters.

A glint in the sand, brighter than the lights from the shimmering ocean, caught Fox's eye. The Zoroark picked himself up and climbed down the sandy hill to investigate, fascinated somewhat by the object that briefly shone brighter than the sun. Of course, he was rather disappointed when the object on top of the sandhill turned out to just be a small but colorful crystal, bearing strange engraved markings and slightly smaller than his palm, a far cry from the precious emeralds and diamonds he saw in his video games.

Soon he realized that colorful might not be the appropriate word to describe the strange object - hues of just about every color on the spectrum flashed on the crystal, the streams of color waning and waxing and brightening and ever-changing as the same multi-colored glow emanated from the otherwise unassuming gem. Like an aurora borealis was compressed into this one crystal, and dipped in the substance of rainbows. As insignificant as the multi-colored gem was, Fox just couldn't tear his eyes away from it, and curiosity spurred him to pick up the crystal and observe the star-shaped, mystical patterns imprinted on it.

Then he touched the crystal-

_and power flowed through him_

_and dreams came to life_

_and colors painted the world_

_and light strengthened him_

_and all was-_

"Big brother!" Fox flinched, snapped back to reality by Luna's shouting. "I thought you said you'd wait for me outside!"

A sheepish grin crossed the Zoroark's face. "Sorry, sis, I saw something that caught by interest…" He then gave her a small, irritated scowl. "And don't do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Heh. Sorry…" Luna apologized, glancing at the sandy ground. At that, Fox's expression softened up. "Oh, don't be sad, you're too cute to be mad at-" "Don't call me _cute!"_ Fox got a laugh out of her reaction. "Sure you do-" he teased, jumping out of the way of a well-shot Aura Sphere. The Lucario then lunged at her brother, and the two siblings wrestled briefly on the sand before Luna came out as victor, pinning Fox to the ground.

"Okay, okay! I get it - now get off me!" The Zoroark half laughed, half demanded as he struggled to break free of his sister's hold. Once Luna let go, the two spent a minute or so dusting powdery sand off their uniforms, though they weren't able to dust off every single grain. "Let's head home quick and dump our uniforms in the laundry," Fox suggested, earning a nod from his sister as the two grabbed their backpacks and headed home, with Fox bringing along the multi-colored crystal for keeps.

**xxxxxxxx**

To Fox's and Luna's surprise, no one was home. While their mother wouldn't usually be back at this time due to her grocery shopping, they did expect their dad to have reached home by then. Maybe he had to do overtime that day.

Quickly, Fox rinsed and dried the uniforms, then proceeded to perform his daily chores. While each individual task wasn't long, having to do all of them in a row was rather tedious and tiring, and Fox slumped on the couch once he was finished.

''Are you okay?'' Luna asked, concerned somewhat.

''Yeah, just tired...that's all...''

''Sorry I couldn't help...'' Luna said.

''It's fine...''

''By the way, I was meaning to ask...''

''Yes?''

''Why are you shirtless?'' Fox looked down, realized that he was only wearing pants and blushed in utter embarrassment.

''W-well...it was hot so I took off my shirt,'' he stuttered, trying to give a legit explanation, though Luna understood completely.

"Fox, dear...why are you shirtless?" Another voice chimed in, and the two siblings saw their parents, already home with groceries and what seemed to be a fast-food dinner, and they were both staring at Fox's shirtless body like it was heresy. "It was hot, Mom," Fox quickly answered, changing back into the navy blue shirt he left lying on the couch before helping his parents store the groceries in the fridge.

"You bought fast food?" "Yes, just for a change," Lenda replied, placing the eggs in their refrigerator egg compartment. "What section are you in, Fox?" "I'm in section two while Luna's in section one-" The Zoroark said, only to be interrupted by Jake's announcement of "Dinner is ready!".

Dinner was a rather quiet affair. Only the occasional small talk pierced the silence, while everyone else just sat down and ate their burgers and fries. The family split up into their separate rooms after their meal, all exhausted after such a long day. Fox slumped on his bed, and only then noticed the dark blue ribbon trailing out of his bag. _Oh. _He unpacked the gift and placed it on his table, taking care to not accidentally snap the blue ribbon while untying the present (he planned to put it in his ribbon collection afterwards).

Inside the blue packaging was a jade green silk scarf. Fox took it out and had fun wearing it for a few minutes, before noticing the multi-colored glow in his bag. Apparently, he'd also forgotten about the strange crystal while he did his chores. Luckily for him, he wasn't on the receiving end of a power surge when he picked it up again, though he did feel an explosive energy pounding through his very being when he did. Eventually, Fox decided to hold the crystal no longer - the power flowing through him threatened to overwhelm his senses...it was as if the gem's power had increased, somehow.

"That's probably just my imagination…" Fox reasoned with himself, placing the multi-colored crystal on his bedside table before slumping on the bed, drifting off into sleep.

He never noticed the crystal turning bright pink, engulfing the whole room in light with a brief flash before he fell into slumber.

**xxxxxxxx**

Only the sound of footsteps resonated in the small cave, dimly lit by crystals emanating their icy, blue glow, faintly illuminating the scars and fresh wounds on the lone Pokémon. The air was cold enough to make their breath condense in front of them, yet they trudged on, hastily wiping blood from their scrapes as they walked.

They could sense it; the gemstone they saw in their visions, icy blue and enchanting, was surely in this dank and cold cavern, tens of hundreds of meters below the surface. As they continued on, mist began to form in the air; they knew they were close.

"Turn back now, lest you bring upon the wrath of-" A Mightyena warned, approaching the intruder from deeper inside the cave, but the mysterious Pokémon nailed him with a barrage of rocks before the Bite Pokémon could ever finish. The intruder huffed, trudging onwards despite the thick, freezing air and the snow gathering at their feet. "I have no time for this."

Before long, they saw a light at the end of the cavern, and knew that their visions were indeed correct. Illuminating its pedestal and the frozen ground was a light blue gemstone, sparkling like snow crystals in the sun, engraved with the symbol of a snowflake. The intruder grinned. "So this is the Snow gemstone...I've found it at long last." They reached out to grab the icy crystal, only to hear an attack coming at them, forcing them to quickly dodge the incoming Ice Beam.

"Who goes there?!" The intruder shouted, scrambling to his feet. From above they then heard a voice, mystical and mighty. "Leave! You are not welcome here!" The intruder heard another beam of frozen energy coming at their left, and rolled to one side to dodge it. They then saw the distinct light of a Hyper Beam, and shielded themself in the nick of time with a Protect. Without wasting any time, the intruder knocked their foe down to the ground with a strong Rock Slide, before subduing them with a Brick Break, covering the area with icy dust.

In the faint light of the Snow gemstone, the intruder caught hints of blue plumage and the long, ribbon-like tail feathers of their opponent, an Articuno. The legendary bird struggled to break free of the intruder's grasp, only to sap the last of his strength in doing so. "Wh...why are you taking the Snow gemstone?" The Articuno gasped, attempting to just remain conscious.

"To simply prevent something. I have no quarrel with you," the intruder replied coolly.

"B-but if you take the gemstone, snow will-" Silenced by another Brick Break to the chest, the Articuno fell unconscious, leaving the intruder be. Snatching their prize off the pedestal, the intruder turned to leave, glancing at the defeated legendary bird one last time.

''Like I said, I have no quarrel with you. I am simply preventing a disaster, forgive me.''

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Chapter II

**Chapter 2**

**xxxxxxxx**

The incessant ringing of an alarm clock jolted Fox from his deep slumber, his head instantly springing up from his pillow as he looked around frantically for the source of the noise, before slamming a paw down on the clock, instantly silencing the god-forsaken sound. One glance at that same, battered clock told him all he needed to know at the moment: it was half-past six, and it was about time he started his day. Wiping his blurry eyes to see the golden rays of light peeking through his window, Fox yawned, dragging himself off the bed and into the bathroom.

Another round of hair-brushing, teeth-cleaning, showering and toilet business commenced, before Fox had a quick change of clothes and left his bathroom. He still had plenty of time to make breakfast afterwards - it was 7:15, and school only started at eight. The Zoroark slung his school bag on his shoulders, and only then noticed the multi-colored crystal sitting on his bedside table. He felt strangely drawn to the gem, like some otherworldly force was moving his legs towards it step by step, beckoning him to take the crystal with him. At the last second he hesitated, recalling the energy pounding through his being when he last touched it - like his head was about to explode.

Fox contemplated for a good minute before he shut his eyes and snatched the crystal off the table, and braced himself for the overwhelming magical energy...which never came. No mysterious force threatened to crack his skull wide open. Breathing a sigh of relief, Fox blinked and tucked the strange crystal into one of his bag's smaller pockets, then opened his room door.

''Good morning, big brother!'' Of course, he never braced himself for the possibility of Luna being right outside his room, and Fox nearly crashed into his work desk from sheer shock. To his surprise, the Lucario was already dressed and ready for the day, and as cheerful as ever. Fox heaved another sigh of relief. "You nearly got me there, sis. Not quite though." He chuckled when Luna pouted in response, looking far too cute to be taken seriously. "Nearly. Did you make breakfast?"

"Not yet, I thought you might still be asleep so I decided to give you a wake-up call."

"Hmm...you wanna make breakfast together, then?"

"Yeah!" The Lucario cheered, elated to have her brother help her out in making breakfast this one time, and dashed down the stairs. Fox followed closely behind with her bag in tow, having noticed his sister completely forgetting about it, and decided to leave the pink school-bag on his sister's chair once he reached the kitchen.

''So what are we gonna make, Chef Luna?'' Fox asked in the best French accent he could muster, and even then he butchered said accent so bad that Luna couldn't help but giggle a bit. "We're making fruit sandwiches, and we'll need five types of berry!"

"And what might those be, madame?"

"Let's see...we need Sitrus, Oran, Cheri, Chesto and Leppa! Get three of each!" With that, Fox headed to the fridge to grab his ingredients while Luna prepared a chopping board and a knife. But even with so much to slice and prepare, the siblings still managed to have their fruit sandwiches on the table within ten minutes, and afterwards ate their breakfast while checking out the morning news (with the only noteworthy event being a train derailment in the mountains).

Once the two siblings had eaten their sandwiches, they grabbed their bags and set out on the winding road to school once more.

**xxxxxxxxx**

As usual, the hallways of Wisp Academy were packed with students, all either checking out their new lockers, chatting with other students or glancing at their timetables every now and then. Fox and Luna had just entered the main corridor when the resounding gongs of the school bell echoed throughout the building, and students started making their way to their classrooms in droves. The Zoroark bid goodbye to his sister as he walked into his classroom, taking his seat amidst the noisy shuffling of chairs, and with nothing else to do, he dug the multi-colored crystal out of his bag pocket and started inspecting.

The more he turned it around in his claws, the more his eyebrows furrowed. While the crystal wasn't emitting pure magical energy like it did the day before, it still seemed rather otherworldly. Even in his well-lit classroom, the multi-colored star crystal radiated a soft, rainbow glow, and the star symbol engraved on the rock occasionally flashed bright white, for no obvious reason. Fox dumbly attempted to break the crystal with a pair of scissors, out of curiosity more than anything, and ended up leaving a sizable dent in the blade, while the crystal received not even a scratch. Most peculiar indeed, he thought.

Fox looked up from the crystal upon noticing the usual chatter among his classmates having fallen silent, and saw the old Scyther preparing his materials at the teacher's desk. Oddly enough, a Glaceon happened to enter the room at the same time, their trembling bangs and their deep turquoise eyes darting frantically about like agitated Combee only serving to emphasize their petite frame and the cold air of nervousness they gave off. He didn't remember seeing them at all the day before, and judging by how his other classmates stared at them with confusion plastered on their faces, Fox could only conclude that the Glaceon was a new student. Excitement bubbled up in him briefly, and then Mr. Blade spoke.

"Good morning, class!"

Every student in the room, save for the Glaceon, scrambled to their feet and bowed. "Good morning, Mr. Blade!"

The Scyther took one quick glance at all his students and nodded. "Alright. Sit!" Then came the collective screeching of metal chair legs against floor tiles as the students settled down once more, and Mr. Blade made his next statement. "Now, first things first - we have a transfer student here, from Lastern City." He turned to the shivering Glaceon, and said in a much softer tone: "Go on, introduce yourself."

Their voice was barely audible, like mere whispers on the wind. Luckily for them, the class was silent enough for one to hear a pin drop. "H-hi, everyone! M-my name is Aurora Frost! I hope w-we can get along…" The Glaceon smiled a nervous smile as she froze in place, silently waiting for her next instruction.

The Scyther faced the rest of the class once more. "She's from quite a different place than the rest of us, so don't expect her to warm up to our system immediately. I'd like everyone to do their best to help her, if she so asks. Understand?" A loud chorus of "Yes, sir!" echoed throughout the room, and Aurora seemed to flinch backwards ever so slightly.

''And for your seat...you can sit over there, behind the Zoroark." Aurora nodded, whispering a silent "thank you" as she walked in the direction the raised claw was pointing at, and would've passed Fox without a care in the world-

-if he didn't so happen to have a strange, glowing rock in his claws. The Glaceon paused mid-step, craning her neck to get a clearer look at the multi-colored crystal. "That gem…"

Fox whipped his head in her direction. "Uh...can I help you?" Aurora briefly froze up in shock, then trained her eyes to the ground as she hurriedly rushed towards her seat, a blush already forming on her cheeks. And then Fox heard some more whispering in the background.

''Did you see that?''

''Maybe they met each other before?''

''They most probably have...''

"Do you think they like each other? Love at first-"

''Hey, keep it down! He might hear us!''

He sighed, glancing at the gossipers as he mentally rebuked their "conspiracy theories". No, he had never seen her once in his life. No, he quite obviously didn't fall for her in that brief moment (he felt his claws threaten to dig into the table from mild frustration). And yes, he could totally hear them. It took a lot more than near-silent whispering to completely fall under his radar. However, Fox couldn't get over the strange way Aurora looked at him, at the crystal - maybe she knew something about it that he didn't? Fox glanced back at the Glaceon, catching her staring at him before she shyly looked away.

"That's enough, all of you." Instantly, the classroom fell silent, and Mr. Blade turned to the list on his desk. "I will now call you all one by one to collect your books. Ash-" -a Pikachu wearing a red trucker hat perked up upon being called- "-Please take a stack." Said Pokémon walked to the book-laden corner of the class, and nearly dropped all his textbooks and what-not just trying to get them back to his seat. Eventually, Fox was called to pick up his own stack, and fortunately for him, the books were surprisingly lightweight, though he still deemed it impossible to fit them all in one backpack alone (and in that moment, was grateful for the existence of his locker).

Once everyone had taken their books (and made sure that no one was missing a textbook or two from the recent book-spill mishap), Mr. Blade addressed the whole class once more. "Your physics teacher, Ms. Snow, should be here soon, so let's greet. Goodbye, class."

"Goodbye and thank you, Mr. Blade!" And the students quickly sorted out their piles of books as their next teacher, a bespectacled Simipour, entered the class. Fox took a quick glance at his timetable again and let out a dejected sigh.

It was going to be a long day.

**xxxxxxxxx**

Hours of lectures, note-taking and general, mind-numbing boredom rolled on before that hallowed bell finally tolled, and everyone rushed down to the cafeteria for lunch. Fox sat down at one of the few long, empty tables with his tray of spaghetti and fish sticks, and took the multi-colored crystal out of his pocket once more for investigation. _Was Aurora - if that was her name - looking at this? _He saw the Glaceon having her lunch all by herself, sitting at a deserted corner of the cafeteria, and turned back to the crystal. _But really, how would she know about this crystal? It's not like these rocks are shown in museums or anything-_

''What do you mean, _no ice?!_" Fox whipped his head in the direction of the voice, and saw the distinctive figure of the cafeteria head with a Meowth, some distance away from his table. "I'm tellin' you, boss! There's no ice!"

The Watchog seemed to glare daggers at his colleague. "Didn't you restock yesterday? How is there no ice?!"

"No clue, boss! The ice just all gone an' melted, same fer th' extra ice bags! And they ain't even cold!"

_Woah. No ice? All melted? There's gotta be a mistake somewhere- _"Hey Fox!" The all-too-familiar voice of Ray snapped the Illusion Pokémon out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Dracon and the aforementioned Pikachu sitting down at his table. "Hey there."

"So I heard there's this new transfer kid in your class," Ray started off, and Fox stared at him with furrowed brows. "Wait, how'd you know-" Dracon pointed him in the direction of a table with a bunch of students crowded around it, whispering something so loudly that it could hardly be considered a whisper at all. "Over there, bucko. Heard some news about her from your classmates."

"Along with some rumors about you and the transfer...is it true that you guys had met before?" Ray added, exchanging a smirk with his Charizard pal.

The Zoroark promptly smacked a palm into his forehead. "No...and we're _definitely_ not in love or anything of the sort. We just met, damnit! And that was just a simple stare!"

"Why the big reaction, lover boy? Of course we know that's totally false," Dracon snickered, somewhat ruining his attempt to reassure his friend. Fox groaned, and Ray decided to raise another question. "Then why was she staring at you?"

Fox hesitated for a brief moment before he uncovered the multi-colored star crystal under his paw. "I found it at the beach. Weird, isn't it?"

Dracon glared at the crystal's aurora-like color flashes and nodded. "You think? Though it reminds me somewhat of my Mega Stone…" The Zoroark nodded, and absent-mindedly slipped the crystal back into his pocket, oblivious to the crystal shining brighter than usual, then decided to change topics. "Hey, have you two heard that…"

**xxxxxxxxx**

Several hours later, after even more mind-numbingly boring lessons, the hallowed bell tolled once more, and every student immediately rushed out of the classroom after their final greetings for the day, making a Combeeline for the school gates. Fox and Luna decided to head home right after school to finish their Physics and Math assignments respectively (one can imagine their utter disappointment) and once again, walked along the winding route back home.

They would've gotten back home without any delays, had Luna not spotted an ice cream truck at the side of the road, jingling its iconic jangle, and practically tugged Fox all the way to it in order to buy a scoop of ice cream. The Zoroark took a brief moment to regain his balance as his sister began her order, but was interrupted by the Delibird in the truck.

"I'm sorry, girl, but we don't have any ice cream today…" Luna immediately deflated like a burst balloon, and dejectedly gazed at the ground as Fox patted her on the back and raised his question. "Excuse me, why you don't have any ice cream?"

The Delibird scratched his head as he regarded Fox. "The freezer wasn't cold enough for some reason and all the ice cream melted. I think a malfunction occurred, but the machinery looks alright to me…"

"Oh, okay. Luna, I'll get you ice cream tomorrow then, alright?" The Lucario instantly brightened up. "Alright, big bro!" With that, the two continued on their way back home, which actually didn't take too much time to reach (since they didn't pass anymore ice cream trucks and the like).

Along the way, Fox contemplated the ice shortage in school, and the Delibird vendor's words. _The cafeteria's freezer just stopped working, same for the ice cream truck's…_

_...Is this really just some unlucky coincidence?_

**xxxxxxxx**

What neither sibling expected to see when they opened the door was their older brother Barke, all dressed in his navy-blue police uniform and watching television with their parents. "Hey, Fox! Luna!" The police Lucario turned to his younger siblings, and was instantly met with one hell of a group hug. "Barke! How've you been?" Fox asked, once he and Luna got the message to stop hugging Barke so tightly. "Pretty good, how about you?"

"I'm good. School's been okay so far, though we already have homework on our second day…" Barke laughed a bit at his brother's predicament. "And Luna has some too? Hopefully you two can finish it before dinner."

"Yeah, I hope so! Talk to you later then, big big bro!" Luna said, heading upstairs to her room and prompting Fox to head back to his room as well. "See you at dinner, then!"

Much to the Zoroark's surprise, there actually wasn't much to do for physics, other than one revision worksheet on what he'd learned in middle school. In no time at all, he was done with his work and was talking with Luna and Barke in the older Lucario's bedroom, with several certificates and trophies stacked on shelves nailed into the deep cyan walls. "Big bro, how's working in the force? Is the work there hard?" Luna asked eagerly.

"Yeah, it was real tough the first few days, what with the higher-ups always pushing us and the constant drills, but after that you get used to it all," Barke answered. "You know how you have to run around the racetrack when warming up for PE? In the police force, we have to run around the entire compound every day, and it's really big, about twice the length of the school racetrack-"

"Dinner's ready, kids!" They heard their father shout from downstairs and immediately rushed down to the dining room, only to be astonished by the gigantic feast set on the table - berries and roast beef and even a huge pizza bowl, topped with ham and Tamato and Pinap slices. (Editor's note: no regrets) Barke's jaw was nearly touching the floor. "Woah...that's a lot of food, mom…"

Lenda merely grinned in response. "Since you're here tonight, we figured that we should celebrate your homecoming." The police Lucario couldn't help but break a smile as well. "Thanks, Mom. You're the best."

"Hey, how about me? I helped cook all this too!" Jake half-joked, half-pouted about almost having his efforts forgotten, and everyone else in the room started laughing. "W-well, of course! Thanks as well!" Barke replied, and the whole family promptly decided to sit down and dig in (Luna, who was so close to drooling the entire time, grabbed a berry and shoved it down her throat so quickly that the rest of the family broke a sweat at not having reached their utensils yet).

Dinner went by with lots of chatting and obviously, eating - Barke's very presence single-handedly livened the mood in the small dining room, with questions and jokes flying about like paper planes in a rowdy class. At some point, Jake turned on the television so that the whole family could watch their favorite comedy show together, only to be interrupted by something interesting going on in the 7:30 news.

"Breaking news: all snow and ice seems to have disappeared from the world. You heard me right. Many regions in Kayo, the coldest continent on the planet, are currently facing severe flooding from a tidal wave of snowmelt, with the number of Pokémon missing and injured rising dramatically and the death toll numbering in the thousands, far higher than the worst flood reported in this century. Also," the reporter pointed at a picture of the planet onscreen, "satellite footage shows the disappearance of both polar ice caps, with geographers predicting sea levels to rise exponentially in the coming week. Governments around the world are preparing shelters and urging those living near water bodies to evacuate a soon as possible. In addition to all that, several reports around the globe have come in with the news that all cooling machinery - refrigerators, freezers, the like - have all ceased to function."

Quickly, Lenda opened the fridge to find it strangely lukewarm, while the ice packs in the freezer compartment were all filled with water. "The news isn't lying...nothing in here is cold at all!"

"Scientists are investigating the cause for all this as we speak. Until then, the only thing we all can do is stay safe. I'd now like to hand it over to Lisa…" By now, everyone in the room was staring at the television in sheer disbelief. They all knew they were probably safe from the rising tides - their neighborhood was situated on a large hill - but the fact that such calamity was practically on their doorstep was...humbling, to say the least.

''So that's what happened...'' Fox muttered out after a few minutes of stunned silence.

Barke stared at the Zoroark, confusion evident on his face. ''Wait. What do you mean by that?''

Fox took a deep breath. "In school, I overheard some arguing about how there was no ice in the cafeteria. I think this is the first time that's happened in ages. Later, the ice cream vendor said that all the ice cream melted and the freezer wasn't functioning, even though he thought the thing seemed completely fine. I thought this was all some strange coincidence, until I saw the news…"

_Really wish I could do something about this...but really, what can I do? I don't have the power to avert natural disaster. I can't snap my fingers and make ice and snow magically appear again. I'm no superhero, I'm just another witness in the face of catastrophe. But I do wish I knew what happened…_Fox was so deep in his thoughts that he never noticed the faint, pink glow in his pants.

"Bro, relax. I think the police department can handle this - if the compound isn't underwater by tomorrow, that is!" Barke joked, earning himself a glare from Luna. "Hey, handling all that isn't your job! It's supposed to be up to the geographers and climate change experts to find out, not the local police force! Besides, do you think the sea is gonna move away when y'all tell it to?"

"Exactly! We're gonna tell the ocean to get off our property, and arrest it when it doesn't follow our instructions!" By now, everyone was laughing at the humorous exchange, even when discussing such a serious matter. Then Fox felt something pulsing through his body, slowly overwhelming his senses, and suddenly the room just started spinning. For the briefest of moments, a flash of pure white obscured his vision entirely, and Fox let out a yelp as he crumpled onto the table.

"Bro, you okay?" Barke immediately stopped joking and patted his brother's back, noting Fox's hyperventilation, and the rest of the family gathered around the Zoroark. "Fox! What happened?" Lenda cried, jostling his shoulder slightly in an attempt to help him remain conscious. But despite the energy coursing through his veins and the pain in his skull growing by the minute, Fox still managed to muster a weak "I'm fine, don't worry" as he pushed himself off the table.

"Are you sure, big brother? What happened?" Luna asked, and Fox hesitated in giving her an answer. How could he tell his family that a strange crystal was giving him a headache without garnering some strange looks first? "I...I wish I knew…really, though. I'm okay…" He gasped. Though Barke was rather unconvinced himself, he decided to let the matter go. "He's okay, everyone. No need to panic." He turned to Fox. "Why don't you go to bed early?"

"Good idea." Even in his weakened state, Fox dismissed Luna's help in getting himself up to his room, and spent some time brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas before slumping onto his cozy bed, his last thoughts being of the vibrant star crystal on his bedside desk before he drifted off into dreamland.

**xxxxxxxxx**

When he opened his eyes, he saw the entire planet right in front of him. He closed them in an attempt to remain asleep, but after a brief moment they shot open once more, because how could one ignore the fact that _the very planet they lived on itself was right in front of their damned face?!_

Upon closer inspection of his surroundings, which mainly comprised of a giant, endless void speckled with a gazillion pinpricks of white, Fox concluded that he was, in fact, in space. Of course, that raised more questions than it answered - how was he lying down on a solid surface? How was he still breathing? Even better, how was he still _alive? _Fox picked himself off the invisible ground, surprised that he wasn't floating like those astronauts he saw on television, and glanced at the earth at the exact moment it split into pieces.

_What in the world is going on? _Then, the Zoroark flinched, and started looking around frantically for the source of the otherworldly voice echoing through the void. _Who was that!?_ Only when he realized that the voice spoke at the same time as he thought did he realize where it was coming from, and promptly smacked a palm into his forehead. Hard.

Fox watched as the broken fragments of Earth slowly drifted apart, before the fragments faded to silver and ground to a halt; a broken ball of dull grey suspended in midair, as if by magic. However, Fox was left as confuzzled as ever. _What's this supposed to mean? _The silvery mist that clouded his surroundings seconds later did absolutely nothing to answer his questions, but rather doubled them entirely when the mist had thinned enough for Fox to realize that he wasn't in deep space anymore, with the only reassuring thing being that the ground under his feet wasn't invisible anymore.

_Alright. Where am I? _A quick look at his surroundings told him everything he needed to know: he was some hundred feet down underground in a dank, dark cavern with temperatures so low that icicles were growing from both the ceiling and the hard, rocky ground.

"Wh...why are you taking the Snow gemstone?" A voice, pleading and gravelly, echoed from the annals of the cavern, and Fox instinctively ran towards the voice, noting the rapid drop in temperature as he ventured deeper into the cavern, and he was shivering by the time he reached the deepest room in the cavern, freezing and void of all light, save the icy-blue luminescence from a diamond-like gemstone tinted with the same hue.

"To simply prevent something. I have no quarrel with you." Fox entered the room, treading carefully so as to not slip on the frozen ground, and almost gasped when he saw the other two occupants in the cave. The first, pinned to the ground by the second Pokémon, was one he only heard about in myths and fairy tales. Deep blue plumage, long ribbon-like tail feathers, a grand, crown-like crest on their head, and wings made out of cold blue ice; he'd thought he'd never see an Articuno in his lifetime, and now he was proven wrong.

The second was less awe-inspiring, but still noteworthy considering that they were pinning a Legendary down with their bare paws; the figure of the midday-form Lycanroc was unmistakable with their beige-white fur and the sharp, jagged rock knives that stuck out of their mane.

"B-but if you take the gemstone, snow will-" With a swift movement of their paw, the Lycanroc silenced the Articuno with a Brick Break, and Fox couldn't help but wince upon impact, then started sweating and hoping that no one heard him. Luckily for him, the Lycanroc seemed to not take notice as they sauntered up to the icy-blue diamond and snatched it off its frozen pedestal, pocketing the gem in their leather knapsack, and glanced back at the unconscious Articuno once more as they turned to leave.

''Like I said, I have no quarrel with you. I am simply preventing a disaster, forgive me.'' With that, the Lycanroc disappeared into the cavern tunnels, and Fox finally heaved a sigh of relief from somehow being ignored by the two Pokémon, despite being in plain sight the whole time. Then thick fog clouded his vision, and within seconds it cleared again to reveal another cave - but the cavern walls and ceiling were laden with silver and coppery bits of ore where the icicles used to be. In addition, he didn't feel an oppressive coldness in this cave like he did the last one.

Again, there was a finely carved pedestal in the middle of the room, and on it was a silver diamond, similar to the ice gemstone yet slightly different - where a snowflake symbol was engraved on the ice diamond, the symbol of a circle with an arrow sticking out of it was engraved on this silvery gemstone. Like the ice crystal, the silver one also emitted a bright glow, its light illuminating the many ores of copper, silver, gold and iron laden in every nook and cranny of the room, the ores of gold shining like stars when touched by the light.

Fox approached the gemstone of steel, wanting to take a closer look, when thick fog started to cloud both his vision and his thoughts, and he blacked out before he hit the ground.

**xxxxxxxxx**

A sudden, loud bang jolted him awake once more, and he threw himself into the ceiling, crashing unceremoniously onto the floor shortly afterward. "Big brother! Wake up, we're going to be late!" Luna shouted, snapping the Zoroark out of his daze. "Wait...what time-" he asked, frantically glancing at his alarm clock…

...only realize that he actually had plenty of time to get ready for school. "Ha, fooled you!" Luna teased, and Fox couldn't help but laugh along with her. "Geez, you really had me scared for a moment there!" Fox picked himself off the ground. "I was really hoping to sleep in for longer, though…"

"Well, you're awake now aren't ya? Especially with you throwing yourself off the bed," Luna pointed out. "Let's get ready for school - what do you want for breakfast?" Fox pondered for a short moment. "Maybe just a Mago jam sandwich this time." "Coming right up!" With that, Luna dashed back into her room, closing Fox's door along the way, and the Zoroark took a moment to contemplate. What was all that he saw in his dream? Who even was that strange Lycanroc, going around stealing gems?

And more importantly, what did that last scene in the ore cave mean?

**xxxxxxxxx**

A blur of beige and white dashed through the thick undergrowth, leaping over fallen logs and running through low-hanging branches. The blur swerved through thickets of trees and bushes, paying no attention to the aching in their legs or the beauty of the forest that flashed by them, rarely pausing for brief moments to catch their breath and check their location on their phone. Only when the sun had long since set did the Lycanroc decide to take a short rest, gradually slowing their pace until they found a small lake in the dense wilderness, and sat down by the shore, gazing at a shimmering reflection of the full moon on the water, silvery and beautiful.

Seth knew he couldn't stay long - he aimed to reach the ore cave he saw in his strange dreams by sunrise - but he figured that a few hours of rest couldn't hurt. The Lycanroc gathered some dry sticks he found from the surrounding trees near the lakeshore and quickly rubbed his flint and steel together to create white-hot sparks, and within a minute he had a campfire going. After spearing a couple of sausages he'd bought from the last supermarket he'd visited and setting them on the flames, Seth took out a vibrantly-colored crystal from his coat pocket and examined the star symbol engraved on it.

"So this was telling me of that ore cave in the last dream...I think it should be close enough, a few more hours of running should get me there." Seth mused, unafraid of anything overhearing him in the depths of the forest. "Think it's the Steel gemstone I'll have to get next, if I'm correct. Wonder what Pokémon's gonna be guarding that this time?"

He saw the sausages on the flames having turned a rather nice shade of brown, and stuck the sticks into the ground while waiting for them to cool off sufficiently - after all, even an expert runner and fighter like him didn't want to burn his tongue from hot food. "I really wonder how those chefs on TV eat their food straight off the pan - but hey, maybe I'll get to find out after preventing certain doom." Seth only started eating once his sausages had cooled enough in the night air, and throughout his meal, still continued to talk to himself about matters on his mind.

"If the other Guardians were here, they'd be having a blast. If arguing over which direction to go in and getting lost constantly counts as a blast, but at least everyone would be stoked about meeting the Pokémon legends themselves. Delphi would be stoked to meet whoever guards the Fire gemstone, wherever that thing is." Wiping the oil off his face, Seth grabbed his canister and scooped some water out from the lake, boiling it before drinking the entire thing, and then boiled some more water to store for later use.

Seth spent a few more minutes staring at the lake, before he got bored and decided to pack up and leave. "Hopefully I'll get a couple more moments like this before I collect all the gemstones and save the world from a never-ending stasis…" Even though his eyelids felt heavy, he brushed his tiredness aside as he warmed up for another few hours of running. "...and hopefully I'll be able to get some shuteye after finding the Steel gemstone." Seth checked his belongings once, sighing in mild relief when all the elemental gemstones he had were still in his knapsack, and extinguished his campfire before leaving the lake.

And once again, the Lycanroc bolted into the forest, with the only remaining traces of him being a couple of footprints in the mud and the soft crunch of grass and fallen leaves.


	4. Chapter III

**Chapter 3**

**xxxxxxxxx**

_It is said that every dream begins with a dreamer, and fantasy becomes reality...true, is it not? Or just a mere facade to toy with thine well-being? That answer is to be sought by thee, wielder of the Dreams-_

''Hey!'' And then Fox found himself snapped back into reality, much to the relief of a certain Charizard and Pikachu - though Fox was rather uncertain of Dracon's concern, given that he was glaring daggers into his very _soul_.

''Uh...yes?''

''Don't 'yes' me!" Dracon snapped. "When we got here, you were spaced out for who-knows-how-long with that creepy blank look on your face! Did you even _feel_ that slap?!"

Confused, Fox turned to Ray, and the Pikachu nodded his head in silent confirmation. "Yeah, he did - everyone but you noticed," he deadpanned, and added, "What's happened to you?"

"Sorry, I just had something on my mind-" "Explain." Wisps of smoke were streaming out of the fire dragon's nostrils, eliciting stares and murmurs from nearby tables. Fox pondered for a moment, wondering how to best explain fantastical visions of the future. "I...really, I don't want to talk about it…I need to get my mind off that weird dream…"

''Dream?'' Dracon and Ray asked in unison, but the Zoroark just frowned and shook his head.

"Guys, please." A moment's hesitation before they nodded and gave Fox the space he needed. Sighing, the illusion fox rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the vibrantly colored crystal, briefly noting the intricate star symbol engraved on its center.

_Everything's gone crazy ever since I found this gem...maybe those strange dreams were linked to this thing, and possibly the meltdown phenomena? But how? _Fox stuffed the rainbow crystals back into his pocket, and gazed absently at his still-uneaten meatloaf.

_Guess I'll never find out._

**xxxxxxxxx**

_Alright, Luna's class should be the first one down the hallway…_

Fox walked into the almost-empty room, with the pastel-colored posters and handcrafted decorations on the walls masking somber, drab shades of deep blue. Those who remained were huddled together, making conversation or were hastily scribbling down notes on their papers - or was it homework? Fox turned his head in the general direction of a familiar shout, loud and tinged with annoyance, and left that thought in the dust.

''Look, Lloyd, I have _no_ interest in dating you right now! Leave before I - or worse, my brother comes and kicks your butt!''

The Gallade closed in on her, a seductive grin on his face. ''Come on, Luna, don't be like that...You know you love me.''

At this point, Fox was barely resisting the urge to give Lloyd a good punch to the groin. He approached the two, and metaphorical steam fumed off of him like boiling water.

"Lloyd, stop being such a creep! I said _no, _and that's _final!_" The Gallade, obviously offended in being called a creep, was about to shout something in retaliation-

-and then he felt claws grip his shoulder. Nonchalantly, he shoved the paw off and turned. "What do you want, loser-" He ended up staring a highly-pissed Zoroark in the eyes, and the color drained from his naturally-pale face. Lloyd backed away slowly, muttering curses under his breath, while Luna breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Big brother!"

Fox practically oozed **void** darkness as he stomped towards the Gallade, punctuating his venom-laced words with loud, heavy steps. "Didn't I tell _you_...to _never_ approach my _sister?!_"

Lloyd audibly gulped, yet foolishly tried to be brave in the Zoroark's face, mentally justifying to himself that being part Fighting-type _had_ to give him the upper hand, _right? _"O-oh, yeah? W-well, what are you gonna d-do 'bout that, bud?" He made the first move and loosed a Focus Punch right at Fox, and smirked when his attack hit true.

And then his eyes widened in horror when he saw Fox holding back his fist easily. "H-how did you-" "I've faced punches harder than yours, asshole. I dare say you make this look _puny!_" Once the Gallade started squirming, attempting to break free of his death grip in vain, Fox got close and personal with the idiot. "If you _ever-" _-he squeezed harder, and Lloyd winced- "_-EVER_ come _close _to Luna again, I will _murder you _and make sure they _never_ find your _dead body. _You got that?" Lloyd gave a terse nod, and Fox forcefully threw his fist away, and he stumbled to the ground.

"You okay, sis?" Fox asked, turning to Luna with worry in his tone. "Yeah...thanks for the save, big bro. I was about to slap him, though…"

"And what a shock he would have - as cute and precious as you are, you'd have probably slapped him so hard that he'd be knocked out cold." Luna let out a groan as they left the blue-walled room, leaving Lloyd to tend to his wounded pride inside. "Hey! I'm not precious, and definitely not cute!"

Fox smirked upon seeing her eye-roll. "Oh, if you say so. By the way, can you go home alone today? I need to stop by the library-" "Why?" Luna interrupted, noticing Fox's brief pause before he answered her. "Assignments." At that, the Lucario eyed her brother with a hint of suspicion - while they were already receiving homework a few days into the new school year, said homework was neither too difficult nor too much to handle, and definitely shouldn't be calling for a trip to the library - but she would let this one slide. "Right then...I'll be back at four or five, tell mom and dad that, okay?" Luna nodded, and waved as she turned to leave. "Okay, bro. See ya back home!"

Fox waved back, then checked his watch before making his trip to the library.

**xxxxxxxxx**

The library was actually just a hop, skip, and a flight of stairs away, contrary to what the above screen transition would've implied. Despite the convenience of not having to walk far to grab a book, though, the school library was practically devoid of anyone, because online books and fanfiction _exists_ and the newest Minecraft update was way too fun to pass up. However, Fox decided to make use of this utter convenience to find something - anything - even remotely related to his mystery crystal, even though he very well knew that he was more likely to find said info on the internet.

He headed over to the history section, momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer number of books on the shelves, and heaved one of the thicker texts to one of the many bean-bags in the area, and began skimming through the content.

Some ten or twenty thick history books later and Fox was still nowhere near cracking the mysteries of his star gemstone. However, he did find out lots of other irrelevant information, like how there were way more wars than he thought there were and how he should probably leave the library within the next thirty minutes, lest the librarian kicked him and the resident bookworm out first. With a dejected sigh, Fox quickly flipped through the rest of his copy of "A History of Santis", finding nothing in the remaining pages, before slinging his bag on his shoulder and shoving the thick text onto the shelf as he walked out the door-

-and right into a certain ice Pokémon, causing both of them to crash unceremoniously onto the floor. Fox winced, feeling the dull ache in his backside as he picked himself off the ground, and turned to Aurora. "Hey, you okay? Sorry that I didn't see you there…" He apologized, a sheepish look on his face.

"I'm fine, thanks…" The Glaceon said, standing right back up and shaking the dust off her fur before her eyes suddenly snapped back to him. "...Wait. You're that Zoroark with the weird gem, aren't you?"

His ears perked up. "Weird gem? What weird - oh." Fox pulled the vibrant star crystal out of his pocket, and added, "You mean this weird gem?"

His response was a short, brief nod. "You're...Aurora, right? Do you know anything about this thing?" She contemplated for a short moment and replied, "This one in particular?...I think, but I'm not entirely sure…"

Fox raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

Another moment's pondering before she replied again. "...My grandmother told me a story about some gemstone, said it shone with all the colors of the rainbow...I'm not sure what it is, but my grandmother calls it Dreamscape…"

"Wait. Dreamscape?" The Zoroark's eyebrows furrowed further.

"Yeah...I don't know the exact details, but if you want you can come visit my grandmother with me and ask," Aurora suggested. Fox paused for a moment to contemplate the situation: while there was no harm in going off to visit her grandma, he'd have wasted precious time better spent playing Smash Bros if his gem wasn't the one she was referring to. "So…where does your grandma live?"

The Glaceon flinched, startled by Fox suddenly speaking up, before she answered. "Viale Village. It's outside Wisp Town, though, and you have to take the train to get there." Fox could practically _feel _his doubt piling up. Now he had to deal with his parents, and they likely wouldn't be very pleased with him if he just so happened to sneak out of town..._wait a second. Mom and Dad are always out on Saturdays...I can get out of town then, and then get back home without either of them noticing! Brilliant!_

"You free on Saturday?"

"I always visit my grandmother on Saturdays...why?" _What a lucky coincidence,_ Fox thought. "I'd like to come visit your grandmother with you, should we meet at the train station this Saturday?"

Aurora nodded in response. "Okay...I'll meet you at noon outside the station-"

"What are you kids doing here?" Both Fox and Aurora flinched upon hearing the Scyther's no-nonsense tone, turning to face Mr. Blade. "It's already five, you two should leave before your parents start worrying," he advised.

"Will do, sir," both students said in unison. "We're just about to take our leave," Fox added hastily, his momentary panic subsiding upon the Scyther's departure to the staff room.

"Oh yeah, didn't catch your name earlier...it was Fox, was it?" Aurora piped up, and he nodded, turning his attention back to the Glaceon. "Yeah...wait, how'd you-"

"Lunchtime rumors. Can't miss those," the Fresh Snow Pokémon bluntly answered. "Hey, what do you think Mr. Blade does in the staff room?"

Fox pondered for a moment. "No clue. Probably paperwork, but how does he mark our worksheets with scythes for hands?"

The Glaceon shrugged. "Assistant scribe, maybe...who knows?" She suggested, a warm flutter in her chest when she saw Fox's chuckle. "Oh, that would be humiliating...well, see you tomorrow, Aurora," the Zoroark said as he waved goodbye, and the two parted ways.

But not before coming up with another mini-theory on their homeroom advisor's ability to mark their work.

**xxxxxxxxx**

"Hey, Aurora!" Being snapped so suddenly out of her musings, the Glaceon flinched and whirled around, frozen energy building up in the depths of her chest before she recognized the Zoroark, clad in a sky blue sweatshirt and jeans, and the cold pressure inside her dissipated; the only thing she breathed out was a small sigh. "Please, don't shout so loud - I almost froze you there."

"Sorry...I didn't mean to scare you," Fox apologized, internally sighing in relief that he wasn't blasted with freezing energy (even though the resulting ice would melt within seconds and would've completely drenched his clothes, but that's another story), and checked a nearby railroad map pinned on the wall. "So we're taking the Red Line?" He asked, and Aurora immediately confirmed with a nod, before the two turned their attention towards the massive expanse of water beyond the chiseled, cyan stone fence they leaned on.

Once, the ocean was but a faraway splotch of blue shrouded by evergreen pines and gradual slopes. Now, the water barely reached the hill's summit, and crept closer to the train station with each passing day, sweeping pines and swathes of grassland into its monstrous, gaping maw. "The news really wasn't lying about the sea levels...look at all that water!" Aurora noted with awe in her voice, and Fox nodded in response. "Yeah...we're lucky that most of our stuff was built so high up…"

They spent a few minutes staring quietly at the rippling water that shimmered under the noonday sun, lapping at pebbles that hadn't yet been sucked into its watery void, before they heard the signature toots of the train whistle and whipped around, dashing right into the nearest carriage cabin before the sliding doors closed on them. Once safely inside, they both sat down on one of the many unoccupied seats (the Red Line only had small towns and nature areas on its list of destinations, so one could understand the low traffic) and let their thoughts wander, the only sound being the rushing of wind as the train sped past vast countryside and lush forests.

"...Hey, do you think your grandmother really knows something about this weird crystal?" Fox asked as he fiddled with the vibrant gemstone, finally breaking the silence. "I...well, I guess so," Aurora replied, hesitating for a brief moment.

The edges of the Zoroark's mouth crinkled downward slightly, and he asked another question. "What did your grandmother tell you about this crystal?"

"Uhm...well...it's been quite a long time since she told me...I think I was eight then? I can't really remember…" Aurora mumbled, thought for a moment, and added, "I think this happened a long time ago...there were two kingdoms, and they lived happily and were all friendly towards each other…" And then her wistful smile drooped. "...then one day, war broke out, and the two kingdoms started fighting. No one knows who or what started this war, but my grandmother said it was some shadow Pokémon…I think?"

"A _shadow_?" Fox clarified, having never heard of any shadow Pokémon before, and Aurora responded with a slow nod. "It was said to be some sort of mythical Pokémon...whatever it was, it caused a brutal, bloody war that was said to have lasted centuries. Then two Pokémon with Dreamscape, which was probably some kind of foresight ability, ended up stopping the shadow and ending the war, but not before every human either disappeared or was killed…"

"Hold on, what's a human?" Fox blurted out, inadvertently jolting the Glaceon out of her thoughts. For a moment, Aurora was at a loss for words, before she stuttered out a half-formed answer: "I-I don't know…creatures like Pokémon, I think? But…different, my grandmother said that they couldn't...understand our language? And they were called Homo sapiens, if I can recall-"

"Homo what?" Fox interrupted.

"...Homo sapiens. My grandmother said it was...another term for these humans. Why, I don't know, but back to the war...once the Pokémon with Dreamscape stopped the shadow, the war just...ended, and somehow the Dreamscape wielders just disappeared as well...our kind were left to roam the land, and we built towns and cities and now we are where we are today," Aurora finished, and the silence resumed, allowing both Pokémon to once again contemplate their thoughts.

And then the silence was broken once more, this time by the squeaking of wheels from a trolley cart rolling down the aisle, loaded with chocolates, nuts and other snacks. "You kids want anything?" The middle-aged Golduck manning the cart asked.

Enthusiastically, Fox pulled out his wallet and offered him quite a few dollar notes. "I'll take everything, thanks!" Within a minute, the Zoroark was stuffing his face with chocolate wafers, practically oblivious to Aurora's wide-eyed staring. "You want anything, miss? We have more in the kitchen," The Golduck offered to her, but she declined with a quick shake of her head.

Finally, Fox noticed the strange look Aurora was giving him. "What?"

"...Have you had lunch yet, Fox?"

Whether he purposely refused to answer or had way too many biscuits in his mouth at the moment to talk, Aurora couldn't tell.

**xxxxxxxxx**

The question brought itself to the forefront of his mind once he'd passed the exit points and saw only the vast expanse of hilly grassland and flowers beyond. "...Are you sure this is the right station?"

Aurora nodded, doubt unusually absent from her expression. "Yeah, Plain Meadows is the right place," she said, and gestured to the sandstone-paved crossroads weaving their way through the grasslands. "We'll be taking the path on the left, that should get us to Viale in around fifteen minutes…are you sure you don't need the bathroom?"

Fox nodded, ignoring the slight burning sensation in his bladder, because he knew he could totally hold it for fifteen minutes and just head to the bathroom once he reached Aurora's grandmother's house (Worst come to worst, he could always let it go in the bushes - practically no one else was around anyway.) and so he continued on, following Aurora down the sandstone walkway, occasionally unwrapping a wafer and snacking as he walked. He asked Aurora once whether she cared for a biscuit, though she replied with a sharp shake of her head.

Then they reached a blocked tunnel, and Aurora immediately went up to the helmeted Gurdurr surveying the damage, slight worry on her face. "Excuse me, what's going on?"

"Well ya see, little missy, some weird ol' buffoon came here an' collapsed the tunnel, just like that. No one really knows why, but never mind! I'ma fix this here tunnel in no time!" The construction Gurdurr explained proudly, and started hoisting rocks out of the way as Fox shot Aurora a look.

"So the tunnel's blocked off...now what?" Aurora contemplated for a moment, a small frown on her lips when she finally replied. "There's another way to Viale, but…"

"But?"

She let out a small sigh. "...We'll have to cross a mystery dungeon." Noticing Fox's still-confused expression, she decided to elaborate. "You know those mythical labyrinths that you always read about in fairy tales, changing shape every time the hero steps into them? Those are based on these mystery dungeons."

Fox briefly recalled one of his favorite books as a young Zorua, _The Tale of the Magic Maze,_ and his eyes widened in surprise. "So Fort Botanica wasn't entirely made up after all...but what explains the layout changing every time?"

Aurora shrugged. "No one knows, and scientists have published so many wack theories about it that it's pretty much known as an unsolvable enigma." Upon seeing the Zoroark nod in response, she added, "I actually haven't gone through this mystery dungeon often...and last time I had my mother with me...though this is the only other way we'll get to Viale. Follow me." The Glaceon walked off the sandstone road, and trekked along a thin gravel-dirt pathway almost hidden by tall grass, with Fox following suit.

The gravel path led them to the entrance of a cave, embedded in the side of a particularly large hill and blanketed with moss and vines. While totally inconspicuous on the outside, Fox could see that the insides of the cavern seemed to stretch way farther than he'd expected, and felt the ache in his bladder. _Just hold it all in, till we're out of there…_

"Oh, I forgot to mention - aside from the usual hostile Pokémon we'll find in here, there's been rumors of a rather strong Pidgeotto living inside...I think," Aurora mentioned.

"You think?"

Aurora paused for a moment. "I'm not sure either...regardless, let's just be careful in there. Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Fox said as he nodded, and followed the Glaceon into the cavern, hoping that he could actually hold his business for long enough to spare him the embarrassment.

**xxxxxxxxx**

**Meadow Caves B1**

At once, Fox noticed the utter lack of sunlight shining through the cave entrance, and turned behind to realize that said entrance had disappeared into thin air.

And then he started panicking. "Where's the exit?" He ran over to the cavern wall, trying to feel for anything that could give him a ticket out of the caves, until he resorted to punching the wall out of desperation. "Where the _hell_ is the exit!?"

"Oh calm down...that's just the effects of the mystery dungeon," Aurora explained, and Fox found it perplexing that she wasn't _losing her mind _like he was over the disappearance of the entrance that existed ten seconds ago.

"Yeah, but no one said anything about the exit _vanishing-"_

"Look. If you really want to get out, you'll have to head to the deepest part of the dungeon and find the exit there, from what I know," The Glaceon stated, somehow still unfazed by the panicking Zoroark in front of her and one missing entrance. "Oh, really? What do we have to do now, find the stairs-"

"Yep."

Fox stared at her with his jaw practically touching the floor. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Seriously, I'm not - we'll have to find the stairway and get through all the hostile Pokémon we find before we can get out of here," Aurora said matter-of-factly, and turned to leave. "You coming?" She asked the shell-shocked Zoroark, before he nodded and followed along while muttering something under his breath about having to use the bathroom...well, at least that's what she thought.

xxxxxxxxx

Contrary to what Fox had read in his adventure novels, the mystery dungeon was relatively barren of practically anything, so it was not particularly surprising that he decided to engage the first wild Pokémon he saw. "Aurora, look! A Butterfree!" He excitedly said, and started running towards the Butterfly Pokémon.

"Fox wait-" Aurora called out, just in time to watch the Butterfree tackle Fox to the ground. "What the HECK-" The Zoroark screamed, backing away as the butterfly closed in on him for another round of attack, staring at him with its creepy red eyes-

-and then out of nowhere, a beam of frozen energy blasted the Bug-type right into the nearest wall, the impact instantly knocking it out cold. Fox glanced back at his savior, wincing when his gaze was met with Aurora's no-nonsense glare. "I told you to be careful."

"Sorry, I forgot for a second…" With a sigh coming from the Ice-type, the two continued venturing through the caverns, twisting through seemingly endless corridors and defeating another hostile Pokémon along the way.

However, all the walking around was taking quite a toll on Fox, who was never the athletic type to begin with. "Just...where are these stairs?..." Fox panted as he squatted down briefly to catch his breath, now really feeling the urge to go, and would've smacked a hand right into his forehead when Aurora pointed out a stairway a couple feet away if he wasn't so worn out. "Great...can we rest for a while?"

Aurora nodded, and handed him an Oran berry from her bag as she sat down. "Eat this before we move on." Gratefully, the Zoroark took the berry and ate the whole fruit in one bite, feeling somewhat re-energized afterwards, and waited for the Glaceon to finish her own berry before they continued on down the stairwell.

**xxxxxxxxx**

**Meadow Caves B2**

The lower levels of the Meadow Caves were no pushover, with more hostile Pokémon ambushing them at every turn. Nonetheless, Fox and Aurora managed to venture deeper into the caverns, both quickly learning to dispose of the beasts that stood in their way ("At least you're not total deadweight now," Aurora joked when Fox finally defeated a wild Pokémon by himself). Of course, they still had much to learn about the mystery dungeon itself - Fox could only stare in confusion at the moss growing in arrow formations on the ground.

"My mother calls them wonder tiles - they restore your defenses and attack power to normal," Aurora explained, noticing the look of "how the heck" he was giving her.

"How do these things work? Magic?"

Aurora thought for a brief moment. "...I don't know either…maybe. Let's move on. I think we can look that up online once we get out of here."

Eventually, after more scoping around in the dark, Fox spotted light shining into the caverns, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally...let's get outta here-"

"Hee hee hee!" The shrill, high voice echoed throughout the caverns, and Fox stopped in his tracks to look around. "...Aurora, what's that?"

"I don't know…" The Glaceon paused, and the shrill cackling resounded off the walls once more.

"Oh? Is that two lost little Pokémon I hear, looking to play?..." A large brown and yellowish-beige bird swooped down from the ceiling and blocked the exit way, catching both Fox and Aurora by surprise. "So there was a Pidgeotto here!" The Glaceon exclaimed, shock in her tone, and Fox immediately began to worry for his bladder.

The Pidgeotto glared at the two menacingly, and slowly approached them, cackling all the way. "Oho! Two more little Pokémon have come to meet their doom!"

Fox raised his hands in front of himself defensively, and slowly backed away. "We didn't come to fight, just please let us-"

"No luck, Zoroark boy! You've stepped on my grounds, so prepare to be knocked out!" At once, the Bird Pokémon zoomed around the pair at blinding speeds, disorienting the two before diving headfirst into Fox's chest, sending him careening into the nearest wall.

"Fox!" Aurora shouted, and channeled her newfound anger into the freezing energy building up in her chest, barely missing the Pidgeotto with her Ice Beam as the bird zoomed at her with its wings glowing, about to land a hard Wing Attack-

-and suddenly Fox was in front of her, grabbing the Pidgeotto by the wings and throwing it down, before slamming into the bird with his arm and launching it into the sky. "You okay?" He asked Aurora, snapping the Glaceon out of her stupor as she nodded in reply. "Yeah, I'll be fine - let's just beat this Pidgeotto and get out of here as soon as possible."

"Agreed," Fox huffed, now really feeling the burn in his insides (and desperately hoping that Viale Village, or at least an outdoor bathroom, was close by), and dashed towards the Bird Pokémon, his claws lengthening into glowing violet blades as the Pidgeotto let loose a sharp slipstream of air with a flap of its wings. With little effort, Fox sliced the Air Slash apart, and leaped at the red-crested bird Pokémon as he slashed again…

...only to miss his target entirely as the bird Pokémon swiftly flew out of harm's way, sending the Zoroark tumbling to the floor. "Hah! Nice try, little fox! You can't hit me while I'm airborne!" The Pidgeotto taunted, noticing the Ice Beam coming right at them a second too late, the frozen energy blasting them right into a wall.

The second the Bird Pokémon found their footing on the ground, weakened, cold and surrounded by a battle-ready Zoroark and Glaceon, they gave in. "Okay! I admit defeat! You two win!" The Pidgeotto hurriedly took to the air and flew away, leaving Fox and Aurora to sigh in relief. "Glad that's over with…" Aurora remarked.

Fox nodded in response. "Yeah, great...can we get out now, please? I _really _have to go." Aurora let out a soft chuckle as she watched Fox clench his thighs together, and sighed once more. "You really should've went at the train station."

"I know, but-"

"What are you waiting for? Let's get out of here." Fox nodded and followed Aurora to the exit, willing himself to just hold it in a little longer.

**xxxxxxxxx**

Fortunately for Fox, Viale Village (which was mainly inhabited by Eevee and their related evolutions for some reason) was literally right outside Meadow Caves.

Unfortunately for Fox, he still had to get through yet another obstacle in his quest for the bathroom: Aurora's younger cousins.

And boy, did Aurora have many younger cousins.

"Auntie Aurora!" Upon reaching Aurora's grandmother's house, a cozy wooden cabin with a large front yard, they were instantly swarmed by Eevees, all young and cute and way too eager to welcome their older cousin and her friend.

''Did you bring us gifts?''

''How's Wisp Town?''

''Is it fun?"

"What's big school there like?"

"Woah, calm down there...Auntie and her friend would like to see Grandma right now, so I'll answer all your questions later. Deal?" Aurora said, quieting the bunch of happy-go-lucky Eevee. "Deal!" And the cousins went back to their game of tag in the backyard, all except for one with a bright pink bow in her hair, who clung to Fox's leg, much to the Zoroark's growing dismay as he mentally told the pink-bowed Eevee that _okay, you're adorable and all, but I really need to make a break for the bathroom right now so could you PLEASE-_

"Auntie, who's this with you? His fur is so soft!" The pink-bowed Eevee asked, squeezing Fox's leg even more as Aurora barely managed to stifle a laugh from seeing the contrast between her cousin's adorable expression and the disgruntled look Fox was giving her. "This is Fox, Steph. I don't think he's too happy with you holding his leg, so could you maybe let him go?"

The pink-bowed Eevee - Steph, her name was - pouted as she reluctantly let go of Fox's leg. "But he's so soft and fluffy and I wanna hug him...do you like him?"

"Well, yeah...why?"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

At that, Aurora's face turned a bright shade of hot pink while Fox snorted at the utter ridiculousness of it, the two staring at each other in disbelief. Them? A couple? They'd only met a few days ago!

"W-well…"

"Umm…"

"...No, he's not my boyfriend!" Aurora shouted, her face as bright red as a beetroot.

"No, she's not my girlfriend!" Fox shouted at the exact same time, his face similarly red.

Again, they turned to each other with embarrassment and shock in their eyes, and Fox hoped that he hadn't accidentally pissed his pants yet. "We're _not_ in a relationship - we've just met anyway - and we _really_need to see Grandma right now bye!" Aurora said, absolutely flustered, as she grabbed Fox's hand and dragged him over to the cabin, despite his requests to let him go.

Upon getting inside, the still-blushing Glaceon directed Fox over to the nearest bathroom ("First door on the left down the hallway, don't take too long.") and finally, did he get to relieve himself of the horrible burning sensation in his bladder. Once he finished his business, he zipped his pants back up and headed to the living room, where he was greeted by Aurora, a slightly shorter Espeon with eyeglasses and patches of greying fur, and the scent of tea leaves.

Fox bowed to the old Espeon out of courtesy, and took a second to prepare a somewhat-formal greeting. "Hello, ma'am, my name is Fox McClaws. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Young dear, the pleasure is all mine. You can call me Rena. Do sit down if you wish," the bespectacled Espeon greeted, gesturing to the large sofa Aurora was seated on, and he hesitated briefly before taking his seat. Being around old people always made him incredibly anxious, though he didn't know why - probably something to do with respect, his brain reasoned. Definitely something to do with respect. "...Thank you, Miss Rena."

The old Psychic-type chuckled. "Oh, no need for all the formalities, dearie. Rena will do." She then turned to Aurora. "Aurora, my dear. You said that this young lad has something to show me?"

"Yes, grandma," the Glaceon said and looked at Fox, prompting him to fish the vibrant star crystal out from his pocket and show it to her. Almost instantly, Rena's eyes widened in surprise, and she blinked a few times before recovering from her shock enough to speak again. "My eyes really aren't fooling me...that's the Dreamscape gem indeed, child!" Fox looked at Aurora in confusion, hoping to get an answer on what her grandmother was talking about, though he was only met with equally-perplexed silence. "You really think that's the one, Grandma?" The Glaceon asked, surprise evident in her tone.

"I am certain of that, dearie. Wait here." The old Espeon placed her half-full teacup on the coffee table and left the two alone for a few silent minutes, before she returned with a thick, dusty book, the pages all yellowed with time. "This is the story of the old wars, my dears," Rena said as she flipped the ancient text open, the cover creaking under the slight pressure.

Fox was stunned. "Wait, the old wars? The ones where those humans fight each other?" After receiving a nod in response, he added, "But what does that have to do with me?"

"Calm yourself, dearie, you're beginning to hyperventilate. Please do tell me, have you been experiencing any odd dreams lately, or something similar?" Rena asked, and Fox stopped himself from panicking with a deep breath as he nodded.

"...Yeah, I have...ever since I found this gem, I keep getting headaches whenever I touch it, like some energy is just pounding through me and wants to make my head explode...then there's the weird dreams."

"Do tell, what dream?" The old Espeon asked.

Again, another deep breath. "...I saw the world falling into pieces and turning grey for some reason...then, there was this Lycanroc who knocked out some mythical ice bird Pokémon - an Articuno, I think - then he left after taking this ice blue diamond from a pedestal…"

"Was there anything else?" Rena asked, prompting a nod from Fox as he recalled the rest of his dream. "After that, there was another gem on another pedestal in another room, different from the ice gem room - I think it was a grey diamond in an ore cave somewhere? Other than that, I can't remember anything else…" He noticed the elderly Espeon being deep in thought, and the room was silent for so long that he flinched in mild shock when Rena spoke up once more. "This is the exact same event that happened in the legends…"

Fox was still left puzzled. "But how?"

"The story tells of two young Pokémon, much like you two, who wanted an end to the war. They gained the ability to wield the Dreamscape, their dreams giving them visions of the future or telling them where to go next. Look here, dearies." The Psychic-type flipped the book to a page inscribed with strange, foreign letters, and showing two star-shaped crystals, one blue and one pink-

_-Wait a minute. That pink gem looks oddly similar… _Fox looked at the vibrant star crystal in his hand, glowing with various hues of hot pink, and listened closely to Rena's next few words. "The text here says that these two wielders of the Dreamscape are destined to save the world from everlasting stasis - or what we refer to as the Stasis Prophecy."

"The Stasis Prophecy?" Aurora and Fox questioned at the same time.

Rena nodded. "Yes, the Stasis Prophecy. The legend tells of twelve sacred gemstones hidden around the world by the great Arceus - the Ice stone to rule the cold, the Water stone to create the oceans and rivers, the Fire stone to bring warmth to the earth, the Grass stone to create forests and plantlife, the Air stone to give us bright skies and breezes, the Electric stone to control the forces of lightning from above, the Ground and Rock stones to shape the land, the Steel stone to create the minerals, the Light and Dark stones to bring night and day to the world, and finally, the Life stone to control every living being in this world."

The old Espeon paused to catch her breath, and continued, "If any one of these gemstones were taken - especially the Life stone - the world would fall out of balance, possibly into a stasis." She looked directly into Fox's eyes, certainty in her stare. "The Dreamscape is showing _you_ the location of the gemstones, Fox. You're the chosen one."

The Zoroark felt the beads of sweat forming and rolling down his back as he put two and two together. "So you're saying...it's all up to m-me to save the world?" Fox stuttered out, a sense of dread beginning to form in his gut. The chosen ones he read about in his fantasy novels were all strong, brave and chivalrous. He had none of those qualities.

"Yes, dearie. The Dreamscape has chosen you," Rena said soothingly, noticing Fox's panic flaring to life once more. "Fate seems to have something in store for you, dear…"

The Zoroark grew more distressed with every passing second, knowing he'd have to bear such a tremendous responsibility. "B-but I didn't ask to be picked, I didn't want any of this to happen! I'm not suited for this! Can't the crystal just-"

"I'm afraid not, dear," The bespectacled Espeon said, and placed her paw on Fox's shoulder. "But please, don't worry yourself so much over this - you'll have the Dreamscape itself helping you along the way."

"What if all this is just some lucky coincidence?" Fox mumbled, holding his head in his hands. "That my dreams and the ice melting just happened like that?"

"Trust me, dearie - this is no coincidence. I suspected that the gemstones had to be involved in the melting of the ice, and now I am absolutely sure that's the case. Still, please don't worry yourself over this matter - as untrue as it might seem, you youngsters ought to be enjoying yourselves instead of stressing over preventing the end of the world." Rena squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, while Fox took deep breaths to slow his frantic thoughts down, before he asked another question. "But where do I even start?"

"The Dreamscape will show you where to go, dearie. Bring some friends along with you too - you'll never know when you'll need them most. Aurora, dear-" -she turned her attention to the Glaceon- "-please do help Fox out, he doesn't seem the type to be able to go it alone."

"...Yes, Grandma," Aurora nodded and answered after a moment's hesitation, casting a glance at Fox, deep in thought, and Rena gave her a soft smile. "That's a good girl."

After a long minute of contemplation, Fox finally spoke up. "...I'll think about it, about being the chosen one…"

"I understand. No need to rush dear, take your time. Now wait here, dearies, I'm going to get something…" Again, the Espeon left her seat and disappeared down the hallway, and returned this time with a dusty brown and forest green knapsack, an old golden badge sewn onto it. "Back in the day, years after the war, groups of Pokémon in expedition teams tried to clear out the mystery dungeons, though none have succeeded yet. If you ever do decide to follow your destiny, take this," she said, handing Fox the old, dusty bag.

He gingerly took it and brushed some dust off the sewn-on badge, revealing the sheriff-esque star symbol, with a flame blazing in its centre. While the bag was probably eons old, Fox could feel that it was sturdier than it looked. "...Thank you, Rena."

"Any time, dearie."

Aurora looked out the window, and saw the blood-orange sun slowly descending from the sky. "I think we have to go now, Grandma. It's getting kinda late-"

"Oh shoot! I gotta run before my parents come home!" Fox interrupted upon seeing the sunset, and turned to the old Espeon. "It was really nice meeting you, thank you for the info and the bag! See you soon!" He said hurriedly, before unlocking the door and darting right into the front yard, while Aurora and Rena looked on in amusement.

"Thanks for all this, Grandma," Aurora said. "Hopefully I can catch up to Fox before he does anything dumb…"

"My pleasure, dear. Do make sure to knock some sense into him if he does so," Rena joked, and waved her granddaughter off as she ran to catch up with the speeding Zoroark. She thought over the events of the conversation as she looked out at the sunset, and smiled to herself.

''I know he's the one...''

**xxxxxxxxx**

Upon awakening, the Lycanroc let himself stay down for a few minutes as he dwelled on the contents of his dream. Why was there a gang of mere teenagers trying to fight him off in that strange cave? More specifically, why was that Zoroark so determined to stop him?...

_**Beware another wielder of the Dreamscape, **_a voice, not his own, echoed in his still-groggy mind, _**for they wish to end to thine mission, and leave destruction in their wake.**_

_Whoever they are, I'll take them out, _Seth answered with his thoughts. _Who are you, anyway? You haven't even told me your name yet._

The entity's presence vanished from his mind, leaving the Lycanroc to ponder the identity of whatever had just communicated with him. _Odd fellow he is, _Seth mused. _Tells me all these useful things to aid my venture, but decides to never reveal himself. _He picked himself off the ground and stretched his legs, and shook himself to get his blood flowing before he set off again.

For a split second, he thought he saw a splatter of red on the ground before realizing it was just a trick of the light, and sighed as he shook his front paws. _Best not to think more about that._

_After all, I'm now venturing and collecting gemstones to save everyone's bacon, aren't I?_

And the Lycanroc took off, a blur of beige-white in the distance, leaving nothing but drifting leaves and scattered footsteps behind.

_Hopefully all this guilt will lessen once I'm done with my job..._


End file.
